Spring 2018

Spring 2018 Schedule

Topic: Bring family and friends to see various forms of holograms, optical illusions, and
other fun exhibits at this self-guided tour open to the public. This event is produced
by Paul Rugheimer, Ph.D, Assistant Teaching Professor from the Physics Department.

Wednesday, January 17th, 2018, 5:00-6:00 PM

What: Meeting

Where: 330 Cobleigh (Lloyd Berg Conference Room)

Speaker: Ryan Galloway, M.S. in Optics and Photonics student at Montana State University

Topic: Galloway will give his talk, “Intro to Coherent Imaging”. Coherent imaging is a
way to recover the amplitude and phase of an optical field. With this information,
one can use Fourier optics methods to create an image of an object, using the amplitude
and phase of the coherent light that scattered off of it. He will talk about how this
is done in terms of a common coherent imaging technique, Off-Axis Digital Holography.
This discussion will be continued in more detail in his upcoming M.S. Thesis defense.

Thursday, January 25th, 2018, 3:10-4:00 PM

What: Master's in Optics and Photonics Thesis Defense

Where: 258 Barnard (Dayton Conference Room)

Speaker: Ryan Galloway, M.S. in Optics and Photonics candidate at Montana State University

About: Ramsden will be speaking on the observations of the current science education climate
in the area. Additionally, she will speak on behalf of the Museum for their plans,
events and exhibits for the coming year.

Topic: In this talk, Bell will be speaking about the Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) federal grant. MTIP offers free technical assistance to help individuals and
organizations access the SBIR.

Thursday, February 22nd, 2018, 4:10-5:00 PM

What:OpTeC Colloquium (SPIE Guest Speaker)

Where: 210 Roberts

Speaker: Cody Youngbull, Research Professor at University of Montana, Flathead Lake Biological
Station Director

Abstract: Dr. Youngbull will speak about a novel field instrument for detecting the presence
and activity of life from environmental water and air samples. The instrument is based
on emulsion droplet microfluidic technology which allows for digital quantification
by stochastic fluorescence signal detection. The instrument was developed at Flathead
Lake Biological Station (FLBS) and is currently being deployed in the fight against
the invasion of non-native freshwater mussels here in Montana. At the end of the talk,
Dr. Youngbull will be presenting SensorSpace: A Cutting-Edge NSF Facility for Environmental Sensor Education, Design, Prototyping,
Production, and Deployment. FLBS is offering a NASA Montana Space Grant supported
internship and for-credit Summer classes and hands-on training in the development
of embedded systems and sensors for ecological monitoring.

Wednesday, February 28th, 2018, 5:00 PM

What: Hyalite Cluster Training

Where: 625 Cobleigh

About: Participate in training for using the Hyalite Research Computing Cluster, which can
be used for MSU research. For more information about the cluster visit here.

About: Volunteer to give kids an introduction to nanotechnology. The morning section will
be hosting classes from local middle schools, while the evening section will be open
to the public. There will be setup and cleanup before and after. More information
about the evening event is at the link here.

If you are interested in volunteering, email Prof. Wataru Nakagawa (wataru.nakagawa@ece.montana.edu) and specify which time block you are available. You may volunteer for both time
blocks, and if you need to arrive late or leave early to either block you may, as
long as you are there for most of the time period.

Thursday, March 8th, 2018, 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM

What: Engineer-a-thon

Where: Shroyer Gym, Marga Hosaeus Fitness Center

About: Volunteer at the SPIE booth at this event. Demonstrate to participating students
how polarized materials and other light filters interact with infrared light. If interested,
please sign up using the link below.

Sign up to volunteer here. Available shifts are 1 hour long (set up), 3 hours long (first session), and 2 1/2
hours long (second session and take down).

Thursday, March 22nd, 2018, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

What: Student Luncheon with SPIE Guest Speaker

Where: 608 Cobleigh

Speaker: Dr. Christopher Middlebrook

About: Come meet and discuss with Dr. Middlebrook, who will be presenting the OpTeC Colloquium
later that day (see below). Students may come and go anytime during the luncheon.
Sandwiches will be provided.

About: Dr. Middlebrook will talk about various options including both industrial and graduate
school that are available to engineering/science students pursuing degrees with an
emphasis in the areas of optics and photonics. From the industrial perspective, how
you can market yourself to employers showcasing your core engineering science background
while also promoting your specialization in optics and photonics. In terms of graduate
school, what are the key steps in identifying and gaining admission to a university
and program that best suits your personal and research interests. The two paths, graduate
school vs. industry, will be contrasted with a discussion on pursuing both concurrently.

Tuesday, March 27th, 2018, 3:00 - 4:30 PM

What: Professional Headshots Event

Where: SUB 235

About: Come and get your professional headshot taken for free! This is a great opportunity
to get a professional photograph for use on a professional website, resume, etc.

About: Tour two local companies: NWB Sensors which designs high accuracy environmental sensors,
and Revibro Optics which designs and manufactures variable-focus mirrors. More information
about NWB Sensors may be found here, while more information about Revibro Optics may be found here.

Note: The tour group will meet in the Barnard Hall atrium at 5:00 pm and then drive
over to the companies.

Please sign up using the form here. This form is also for the company tour on Wednesday, April 4th. You only need to
fill out the form once.

Thursday, April 12th, 2018, 5:00-7:00 PM

What: MPIA Spring Networking Social

Where: Quantel Laser - 49 Willow Peak Drive, Bozeman, MT, 59718

About: The Montana Photonics Industry Alliance (MPIA) and Quantel Laser are hosting an evening
of networking with Montana optics and photonics companies, entrepreneurs, laboratories,
faculty and students. Refreshments will be provided by Quantel Laser.

Sunday, April 15th, 2018, 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM

What: Astronomy & Aerospace Day

Where: Museum of the Rockies

About: Volunteer at the SPIE booth at this event, or attend to learn about space and its
relation to our lives on Earth. The SPIE booth will showcase polarization demonstrations.
Info about the event is at the link here.

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the form here. Two shifts are available: from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm.

Abstract: The long-haul telecommunications traffic due to cloud computing, internet of things,
5G wireless, and the worldwide generation and web storage of an unprecedented amount
of data, is expected to grow by 30%-60% per year in the near future. Such rapid exponential
annual growth can cause severe congestion in the fiber-optic backbone network within
the next ten years. Few-mode fibers (FMFs) and multicore fibers (MCFs) have the potential
to replace single-mode fibers (SMFs) in congested optical communications links. Space-division
multiplexing (SDM) can be used to transmit independent data streams on different fiber
modes or cores. Coherent detection and digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms
can be used to compensate interference due to coupling among modes or cores, respectively.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) optical communications systems use all aforementioned
technologies for the reliable transmission of information between two locations. The
purpose of this tutorial presentation is to explain the basic principles of optical
MIMO transmission and to provide a research road map for long-haul optical communications
for the near future.

Elections: SPIE Student Chapter Officer Elections will take place during this meeting. If you
are interested in becoming an SPIE officer, please fill out the form here before this meeting. If you have questions about the officer positions, you may email
the current officers at the addresses listed.